Slugs and snails can be a real problem for gardeners. Usual signs of slug & snail damage are the usual slime trails, young branches near the base have been stripped away over night or even holes in leaves, flowers, tubers, bulbs and roots.

Slugs and Snails can however be beneficial in the garden, providing an important food source for garden wildlife such as birds, hedgehogs and more.

Keeping plants free from fallen leaves and removing slugs and snails by hand is a great way to protect plants from slug and snail attacks.

Alternatively you can control slugs and snails without the use of chemicals which can be harmful to garden wildlife. Chemical free, natural slug and snail deterrents such as Copper Slug Control Tape and Slug & Snail Shocka, perfect for creating a natural barrier which slugs and snails don’t like to cross. They’ll feel discomfort similar to silver/tin foil on amalgam fillings in the mouth when they try to move over it sending them elsewhere to feed.

Gardening Angel Paul loves to use Organic Slug Control Pellets. They are made from British Sheeps Wool, containing no harmful chemicals so it’s safe to use around animals, pets and children. Simply wet the pellets and they will expand to form a felt blanket like barrier which won’t wash away. This will deter the slugs by pulling the slime off the slug’s foot so that the slugs have to go off and find easier feeding elsewhere. The wool fibre’s fine scales. Small barbs and abrasive particles make the pellets gritty, forming an abrasive and irritating barrier that slugs won’t cross.

Controlling Aphids

Aphids can infest your plants at any time of the season. You can normally spot aphids on your plants as they look like white flecks and usually gather around the shoot, tips, flower buds or young leaves. An easy solution would be to spray these pests with a weak soap solution. Alternatively, you can spray your fruit and vegetable plants with an All Natural Insect Killer. Our Natural Bug Killer contains Pyrethrins which disable the insects nervous system and fatty acids which break for the insects cell membranes without leaving any unhealthy residues on your plants. You can also introduce natural predators of Aphids to your garden or plot such as Ladybirds and hoverflies. You can attract them to your garden by planting marigolds and other bright flowers around your plants. Our Lacewings & Ladybird houses are perfect for attracting beneficial insects to your growing area. They will repay you by preying on aphids, thrips, red spider mite and moth eggs.

Preventing Mould & Disease

If you’re growing in pots, prevent the development of Grey Mould. This disease is caused by the fungus Botrytis Cinerea. Ensure plants are not over crowded, keep them well ventilated and water them regularly to protect plants from Grey Mould developing. Symptoms of Grey Mould can include mould on the leaves, soft fruit and fungus around the stems. Grey Mould normally enters through a would or infects plants under stress, but it can affect healthy plants in humid conditions. Keep your greenhouse or conservatory well ventilated with an all in one Greenhouse Fan and Heater. In warmer weather, use the summer mode to circulate air round your greenhouse. Over or under-watering can often stress plants, however if you are growing in one of our Holiday-Proof Planter Kits or Click & Drip Watering Kits you will not suffer with any of these problems.

Frost causes the water in plants cells to freeze, damaging the cell wall, matters are even worse when plants face the morning sun as this causes them to defrost quickly, rupturing their cell walls.

Horticultural fleece, also known as garden fleece cover is particularly useful for protecting shrubs and fruit trees from frost and for warming soil in raised beds and veg plots ahead of sowing seeds or planting. Our heavy duty frost fleece is double the thickness of most frost fleece, providing protection against lower temperatures. Place frost fleece around palms and other non-hardy plants. In spring also protect the buds on fruit trees with horticultural frost fleece.

When plants are damaged by frost they look limp and blackened. Evergreen plants will turn brown and the leaves of tender plants may appear translucent. Even hardy plants and tough evergreens can be damaged by prolonged severe cold when soil becomes frozen. This is because the roots are unable to take up water and the plants die from lack of moisture.

When frost is forecast covering your plants retains soil heat and moisture and protects them against strong winds, which can hasten drying and cooling.

The wind can dry out the ground around your bedded plants, so make sure the plants are well hydrated before the storm hits. Check the moisture levels with a Soil Moisture Metre and ensure your plants are never over or under watered

Give bedded plants further protection by firmly embedding a cloche around the plants. To prevent the cloche blowing away, you will ideally want to embed them around 2 inches in the ground with a set of gardening pegs.

Move your potted plants to the safety of a greenhouse or close to walls or fences to minimise the risk of wind damage. Corners are perfect for extra protection from the wind on two fronts.

You can further protect any potted plants from wind damage with Fleece Plant Protection such as a Gardening Fleece or Plant Fleece Jacket, or by moving them to a wall mounted greenhouse which will minimise the impact of drying winds.